OH, THE NIGHTLY WINTER TRAIL RUNS

Just got these picture from local trail runner, Johnny Coyne - a nice pic of us from last winter running at Mt. Airy. BRRRRR.......it was chilly. You can also see me with my brother's dog, Quincy. His poor little paws got clumped with snow, so I carried him out the last 3 miles! Good thing he is a little one. Last snowy run for him!!!

French Park Dirt Days!

This race was a hot one! It was a short and beautiful coarse with lots of stream crossings. Smartwool kindly donated prizes for a raffle - t-shirts and such. Thanx smartwool! After the race OCIN (Orienteering Cincinnati) put on an event. Orienteering is always fun, so check it out! A great way to get in some exercise without really feeling like you are out there working out! OCIN will also be at East Fork, so plan to stick around for a little orienteering after the race and you enjoy some wonderful eats by The Unwritten Chef.

Top 3 male finishers were William Rathkamp, Jason Pitney and Zachary Triplett. Top Female finishers were Meghan Shagena, Ashli Joseph and Cameron Kurz. Way to go!!

Mt. Airy Dirt Days

The Mt. Airy run at Dirt Days 2008 was a great day! Windy, sunny and warm! Delish! There were storms all week up to the day of the race, so we had some trees down, but the running spot did not fail to flawlessly re-route the course. I know Adam was concerned about chopping through parts of the forest to re-route the trail as he felt he had disturbed nature. I assured him it was ok as i pointed to the fallen tree that had itself crushed all the natural life under it.

The top males in this race were (starting in first place) Court Lilly, Bradley Mills and Patrick Harvey. The top 3 female finishers were Leslie Kraus, Cameron Kurz, and Meghan Shagena. Congrats!

Dances with Dirt

These photos are from Dances with Dirt in Gnaw Bone, IN. Our team name was "4 gnawty skirts and 1 killer kilt." This race was a day full of fun! It was on May 10th and races lasted from 6:15 am until the early evening and was followed by red wine, pulled pork and coleslaw! what more could you want??? There were a total of about 55 miles run by the group - each member ran a about 4 different legs over the course of the day. My favorite leg was my last - i ended with a long and steady uphill - not too steep, but just steep enough that i could enjoy and conquer my beloved uphills! Check out Heidi's Decorated Car, "the bone moble," below and Craaaaaaaaazy Adam, Heidy and Roger!! We decorated Heidi's car with doggie milk bones - we stuck them to the car with chocolate icing! The sun eventually melted some off and we did enjoy some of that chocolate throughout the day :) :) :)

#1 RACE OF DIRT DAY'S TRAIL SERIES - AULT PARK

The series got off to a good start w/ a beautiful day and the trails treated us well. It was a tough course, as always, with lots of hills, twists and turns and roots. It made for a challenging & fun course. I found myself pulling on rocks & roots to get up some of the steep hills!!! Thank you for the massages/stretching provided by Wellington Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine after the race! This was much needed!

The top 3 male finishers were William Rathkamp, Brad Mills and Travis Murray. The top female finishers were Leslie Kraus, Heather Poast and Lori Mills. We will see how the rest of the series "pans" out. Sorry, that is the chef in me talking :) :) :)

The Landen/Deerfield 5k Trail Race

The Landen/Deerfield 5K Trail Race was Saturday 3/15, and what a muddy mess it was! This is a small (under 100 runners), but well-run race by Greg McCormick. It was a muddy mess, but keep it in mind for next year. It was a blast and relatively flat. There were a couple of creek crossings up to the knee, but it wasn't bad. About 3/4 of it is on the mountain bike trail and you can see your competition coming and going - keeps you on your toes! Lots of freebies (Many Dick's $50/$25 gift certificates, trail shoes from the Running Spot, etc.) given away at a random drawing, and rare cash prizes to the top 3 males and females ($100/$75/$50). Medals to top finishers in their age divisions. Not bad for the $10 entry fee. Starbucks, bananas and bagels followed, as well.

-Sandi Wethington

Trail Maps

This is for anyone who has never run with us before, or is not familiar with the parks where we run. You can find maps for most of the Cincinnati Parks at: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cityparks/pages/-4373-/
The big map is a little hard to follow, but you can find a map for a park near you.

-Adam